Furthermore, those who have subjected others to slavery could only do so with a complete absence of conscience. Sin is exactly the same. Without conscience, it brings misery to everyone it touches. If you doubt it, you only need to look at the effects it has had on our world, on people that you know, and within you own life.
The way sin has manifest itself in your life, and the effects it has had, differs from the way it has manifest in the lives of your family, friends, neighbors or community. Sin has many faces, but it only has one child- his name is death. Regardless of the specific way it has infected each person, its ultimate intention and end is our destruction.
Without God, man has no capacity to live any differently than within the corruption of a fallen world. Therefore, when we see people overcome with specific sins which are decimating them, we do well to see them, not just within the context of their sin, but according to the context of their need for a savior.
We can preach against sin and not preach the gospel. To lay such a burden on people is akin to a task master requiring a crop from his servants but providing no field in which to plant, no tools to till the ground, and no seed to sow. Regardless of the demands, regardless of the threats, the servant will never produce what is required. Some enemies are not overcome by sheer will and determination. Some enemies are not subdued because we have determined to not give up until they are defeated. However, when we preach the gospel, victory over sin, freedom from its chains, abandonment of it as a master is an inherent part of the message.
When we speak of hell, it is usually in reference to fire, brimstone and eternal torment. Those things are realities that should not be denied within sound teaching. But, the truth is, those things are inconsequential compared to the true loss of such a fate. True loss, true hopelessness, the anguish of eternal damnation is eternal separation from God. The scripture teaches that every good and perfect gift comes down from The Father. Whatever joys we experience in this life, even if we do not walk with God, are part of our existence because of the work of God amongst mankind in this world. In a sense, heaven is shadowed for us ever so slightly by the warmth of our love towards our children, by the solace of a warm fire on a cold, winter night, by the majesty of a mountain range that captures our breath. Life is filled with good things from God. When a person is lost eternally, all of the goodness that God has ever expressed to them is lost for them forever. Never again will they feel love or joy. Never again will they know the blessing of something so common as human contact and friendship, nor will they ever again sense, in any capacity, the voice or presence of God that has reached for them all their life.
As we consider the people we come in contact with, we must bear in mind that if they are living separate from God, they are experiencing all too well the shadows of an eternal existence apart from God. They feel it every day, though they do not necessarily understand it. What they must know is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the light in the darkness which their soul so desperately longs for.
Man, apart from God, is a pitiful thing. His capacity to perceive his own condition is hindered by the limitations imposed upon him by the sin which blinds his mind to God. When you speak of Spiritual things to the carnal mind, it is foolishness to it because there is no apparatus whereby it can grasp that reality. There is no capacity to perceive the things of The Spirit.
Because there is no perception, they will spend their lives waiting and hoping for light to shine from a source that cannot give it. Having heard the gospel, but choosing to reject it, they will continue to feast on forbidden fruit, pretending to delight in the taste of sorrow and death.
Unlike forbidden fruit, the gospel produces life and change within our innermost being. We cease from the failed endeavor of seeking encouragement in death, for there is no encouragement in death, only in life. The rich intent of God is that we are transformed into the image of His Son, without blemish and without condemnation.
It cannot be emphasized enough that transformation truly occurs when absent the weight of condemnation. No one ever changes at the deepest level by being condemned. We are changed at the deepest level because of Christ who is in us. We are changed at the deepest level because we are crucified with Him, leaving every vestige of the sin that enslaved us hanging on the cross. In Him, we stand complete, having been raised to newness of life through the glory of His resurrection. Through this gospel, sin is meant to no longer have dominion over us, nor keep us bound under the weight of condemnation.
Concerning condemnation, man-made religion teaches otherwise, even amongst those confessing faith in Jesus Christ. Some Christians only feel good when they feel guilty. They only feel secure when they feel condemned. Condemnation in the conscience is the fruit of doubt, while at the same time it feeds doubt. Ironically enough, this creates a cycle. A person stumbles into sin, or constantly revisits certain sins. Then, they experience prolonged condemnation in their conscience because of those actions. That very same condemnation creates a foothold for sin, which continuously manifests itself in the life because it is fed by the condemnation. The more one struggles with the sin, the deeper the condemnation; hence, the deeper the condemnation, the deeper the root of sin. So it goes, on and on, while the life is destroyed.
The ultimate source of that cycle is doubt in the sufficiency of the cross of Christ. Usually, a person bears guilt for sin as their own pitiful attempt to atone for it. Such attempts are entirely self- focused. The principle reason people make such attempts to atone for their sin is because of the reasoning in their double mind which insists that God requires that in addition to the blood of Christ. Put in other terms, they are not sure if the blood of Christ, by itself, is enough to satisfy what God requires from them. That is doubt.
James 1:6-7 tells us that what things we ask for, we are to ask in faith without doubt or wavering. Furthermore, the one who wavers shall not receive anything from God. It seems evident that within the body of Christ, doubt is one of the primary reasons we struggle spiritually. Doubt is a stagnant pool from which so many drink, the waters of which poison and paralyze the soul. Because of it, so many are inhibited from living in the fullness of life Jesus promises us. It is a gaze that is fixed on something other than God.
When doubt comes to visit, he brings an acquaintance with him named fear. Fear is a thief that steals away our perceptions of the goodness and promises of God. It robs us of love, joy, peace, and leaves us desperate in a darkened, dingy room void of comfort. Lies, accusations, and a description of every bad situation that could ever happen to us is what this villain leaves behind.
Adam was placed where there was no shame before his creator. He dwelt openly and freely in the full presence of a pure and holy God. However, when he partook of the tree and died spiritually, both his conscience and his thoughts changed. Afterward, when he heard the steps of God, he hid himself because of his nakedness, or more accurately his doubt, his fear, and shame at his nakedness. God's response, the question He asked, is profound, "Who told you that you were naked?" The question infers that it was not He who had revealed nakedness to Adam. In fact, no one laid accusation at their feet concerning their nakedness, not even the serpent. It was a condemned conscience before God, filled with fear and riddled with doubt.
Just as Adam, you will hide from the presence of God in a downward spiral of guilt when nakedness becomes a giant in your thoughts. If our thoughts are of a natural origin, viewed through the lens of who we were before we were placed in Christ, then we will make ourselves guilty and accuse ourselves continuously before God. Because of our shame, we find nakedness in ourselves all the time. Child of God, who told you that you were naked? There is neither virtue nor freedom in accusing ourselves of things that God does not.
When framed in false religious virtue, condemnation becomes an expected part of life. As already stated, some Christians only feel good when they feel guilty. Ironically enough, they will begin to feel guilty for not feeling guilty in moments when they forget the wretchedness they constantly accuse themselves of. Condemnation becomes comfortable, normal. In reality, it is the spice of religion and the bread of self righteousness. For some, righteousness is equivalent to self abasement, not divine justification through Jesus Christ.
These words are meant for the Christian who has become famished in the journey, longing for true meat and nourishment. Yet, they find themselves eating berries in the bramble being scarred by the thorns. For you to impose on yourself, or someone else imposing on you what God does not require will always bring condemnation.
So goes the never-ending battle in the minds of men unless the conscience is clean. A clean conscience allows us to give ourselves permission to gain the full access unto God which He has offered and provided for us.
Doubt, and the defiled conscience that comes from it, forbids access to God. Be encouraged in knowing there is no miracle needed to move past doubt. Understand that doubt is not something that is cast out of you; it is something you release by laying hold of the truth. Its origins are in thoughts issuing forth from a mind waiting to be renewed. The deadliest deeds ever committed began with one thought. Every doubt that produces death and condemnation is the same.
Shall we then concede our ground, even in small measures, to the voice of condemnation? To which voice shall we give heed? Which declaration shall proceed from our own lips?
It is amazing how clear our vision becomes, how stabilized our thinking becomes when it is no longer veiled by condemnation. How high a peak it is we ascend to when we no longer equate humility with guilt, but with the greatness of God instead.
Consider what a blessing it was for Lazarus to walk by his tomb on occasion. No evidence could be given him, nor argument made to dissuade him from the reality of God. There was no doubt for he only needed to pass his tomb. For us, there have been places where God has met us in our death, delivered us from our tomb. These are places where we have seen the glory of God and it has raised us up. When life rises up to challenge us, when doubt and unbelief press against us, we need only take a walk past our tomb to possess all the evidence we will ever need. Only believe, and you will see the glory of God. Only believe, and you will find an undivided focus of purpose and strength.
We do not grope about in an unaided search for truth. It is God Who brings us to the perception of what is true in Him and gives us the ability to set our mind on those things. The scripture assures us in Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you.” In the Hebrew, there is a double usage of the word “shalom” in this verse which is translated “perfect peace”. That wording is meant to emphasize the completeness of the peace we are kept in by God when we, by faith, have been transformed by renewal.
Such transformation produces fruit in us that strengthen us. For example, the peace of God which passes all understanding is one such fruit. Peace, as a word and as a concept, has an endless array of meaning to people. To one, it may be defined in as narrow of terms as the absence of war. To another, it may be conceptualized in serene settings overlooking quiet waters as the soothing song of a lonely robin calls them away to another place. To another still, it is an evening around a warm fire in the company of even warmer companionship. As delightful as these things are, they are but small streams and tributaries to a greater, everlasting river. It is a river with a raging flow and cool, crisp waters that fill the soul.
God, in His wisdom and by His nature, bestows peace- produces peace within the deepest places of His people. As a fruit springing forth from Him, it is one of the greatest delicacies we shall ever find the privilege to partake of. Yet, in its essence, it is more than the quiet moment. Peace is a key means by which The Lord of Heaven and Earth establishes and maintains His rule within us. Furthermore, it is a key means by which He protects the sacredness of our fellowship.
There is no magic formula by which the peace of God is attained nor is there anything that can compare. Without it, we cannot be fully governed by God because scripture says "let the peace of God rule in your heart." Therefore, the perfect, manifest peace of God is a golden instrument by which He sounds our advance and gives us direction.
Without His peace that passes all understanding, we stand in terrible places of vulnerability for the scripture also says "the peace of God shall guard your hearts and minds." Resting in Him, the peace of God stands as a sentinel against the wiles of the enemy and assault of the world. That protective friend is a sure guard which the wise man learns to depend upon, stand behind, and take refuge within.
Passing through the habitation of peace, we enter into His rest. What we must avoid is the misinterpretation of what rest is. Simply defined, the place of rest is where we have ceased from our own works and entered into His. Lack of understanding of His rest can result in us becoming less responsive to the voice of God. Rest in Christ is not complacency, nor is it a passive, unfocused, nonchalant way of life. The place of rest is the place of power. Rest is a nectar, a rich nourishment that comes from the presence of God.
Consider the promise of a land flowing with milk and honey given to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. That land is a picture of the rest God intends. You may recall there were giants in the land, but they were dead long before the Israelites took up swords against them.
We look around and see glimpses of hell in this world. Yet we look around the same world and see glimpses of heaven. The testimony of eternity is all around us. What it bears witness to is the rest created for us despite the giants who tell us otherwise.
The peace the world gives is rooted in circumstance. As circumstance changes and fluctuates, so does the peace the world offers- which is actually no peace at all. The peace that is from Christ is His peace, inherent to His nature and rooted in Him. Such peace as that is unchanging, just as He is.
When peace has no place, when we are longing for it but cannot find it, that elusiveness is a sure indication of our present condition. Never is a man so weary than when he has had no rest. Three days without sleep and a man will find that he longs for nothing more. It will occupy every thought. For the spiritual man who has tasted the wonder of His peace, even a moment apart from it draws out of him the deepest longings for God.
The world demands we relinquish the truth and conform to its lie. Carnal men offer their acceptance if we will surrender just a little of what God has said. When we compromise the truth, we sell people our peace for their favor.
Amongst the views of man and his limited comprehension, God is, without doubt, a controversy. There are endless questions as to why certain things are the way they are, and certain questions as to why God would allow those things to be. Men question Him, doubt Him, accuse Him and rail against Him as they refuse any comfort of Him in the midst of their own limitations. So great is the war that rages against the word of God. So great is the word of God that overcomes the world. Within it is the revelation of Christ.
The Bible is a spiritual book. What you need from it, such as the rich of fruit of peace, does not come because of good, natural disciplines. It must be taught to you by the Holy Spirit. When we live by The Spirit, when we hear the promises of God, it awakens our senses, our spirit with excitement at the possibilities within God.
For some who confess Christ, when they hear the promises of God what passes through the heaviness of their mind is a certain measure of skepticism. They began to play the cards they hide in their pocket that reasons out why such things are unrealistic or unlikely. For them, Godliness is a goal never attained and Satan remains a foe to be feared.
How shall Satan hold dominion over us when his power has been utterly cast down by Jesus Christ? We find our refuge behind a torn veil in the innermost place with God. No serpent may tread there, nor darkness cause His light to flee. Satan is an offense. He is the dark, ancient plague against the soul of man and God has sent His light against him. Perceptions change depending on the view from which you observe. Standing in the beauty of His sacred temple, we come to behold the trembling of a foe we once thought mighty. We come to understand that the flaming sword of God has reduced him to little more than dust and ash.
Though our vision is obscured to a certain degree in this life, there is no doubt that each man will pass into eternity. When they do, when the dimly lit glass of this life is shattered and they find an unlimited, full comprehension of the majesty, glory and incomprehensible goodness of The Living God, they will gladly bow in wonder before One so glorious. Everyone will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Chapter 2
Living in Christ
The job of a teacher within the Body of Christ is to impart to the hearers what is needed for them to be taught by the Lord themselves. Never was it God’s desire that His people, those that are called by His name, suckle nourishment from another person when He has prepared a feasting table for their fulfillment. That does not remove the design of God in establishing relationships within the Body of Christ that bring us encouragement, strength, or allows God to speak to us through those relationships. With that said, those relationships were never meant to supplant our ultimate source, which is The Lord Himself.
The intent of the gospel in this life concerning those who have been born of God is that Christ should live in us. He does not do so as some abstract, mythical idea. Rather, He lives in us as a true, living force governing our lives, leading us, directing us, expressing Himself to us and through us.
God's intent for us is not that we should live the best we can by whatever moral code we understand. His intent is for us to be the expression of His love, life and nature as a result of the oneness of Spirit we have with Him. The difference between those two manners of life is immense, I dare say incalculable.
As Christians, we have the opportunity to hear preaching and sermons at will. Not only is it available to us every Sunday, but we may access sermons at any time by radio, internet or television. As beneficial as that may be for us, the most impactful sermons do not occur in a pulpit. The greatest sermon ever preached is the truth declared in your life, through your life- the evidence of the manifestation of the Sons of God bearing the fruit of their Father. Your life is your sermon and through it God declares Himself to a world in darkness.
Know also that your life is your ministry and your ministry is your life. From the moment you are born again until you pass from this life, your ministry is established within you. You carry that service to God everywhere your foot treads. Sometimes, our vision of ministry surrounds the events that occur at our church building. Sometimes, our vision of ministry is a grand plan of service that awaits us at some point in the future. The truth of the matter is your ministry is before you with every breath you draw. It is given for you today and its impact is now. Ministry is not necessarily the full time occupation of a select, called few. Ministry is the expression of God through you to a dying world, using the gifts he has given you for that purpose. Ministry is also the strengthening and encouragement of the body of Christ within this world through the gifts He has placed within you.
It is an unfortunate reality that oftentimes, we as Christians become so enamored with the plans we imagine for tomorrow, that we fail to apprehend the plans God has prepared for today. We can become so